Britain, PH strengthen trade ties

CNN Philippines

The bilateral trade deal between the Philippines and the United Kingdom gets a boost as the top British trade official visits the country for the first time.  Senior correspondent Lois Calderon has the story.   Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

Transcript

00:00 tuna, t-shirt, cornstarch, and durum wheat flour.

00:05 These are some of the Filipino products that can now be exported to the UK at low tariffs,

00:11 even at zero duty. That's under the so-called developing countries trading scheme by Britain

00:17 that entered into force since June last year. But that bilateral deal gets some turbo charge,

00:23 as His Majesty's Trade Commissioner Martin Kent visits the Philippines for the first time.

00:28 I'm delighted to be here with the Philippines. The UK has a bilateral trade relationship

00:33 of 2.9 billion pounds, so it's very important to us. And actually, that's a trade relationship

00:39 that's very balanced on both sides. British exports and Philippine exports to each other's

00:44 countries balance each other. Britain ranks 20th among the Philippines trading partners.

00:49 China, Japan, and US are the top three. But Britain is throwing a wider net over the agenda

00:56 it mutually shares with the Philippines, such as cyber security, fintech, clean energy,

01:01 and education. So I'm meeting a whole range of British businesses. I'm also meeting some

01:06 Philippine businesses that are working with the UK and in the UK, for example, Gcash,

01:12 that has a financial inclusion partnership with Edinburgh University. Also, Kickstart Ventures.

01:18 Some of the British businesses include Rolls-Royce. The UK is home to tech unicorns.

01:24 It's on the lookout for more ventures. The UK is a real incubator of innovation,

01:29 of technology, fantastic ideas that are rapidly scalable.

01:33 Well, we now all know, of course, James Bond, who's a high tech, very tech savvy.

01:37 He's very tech savvy. So building on that success, we are really keen to work more and more with the

01:44 Philippines to look at how our financial systems can work ever more closely together.

01:49 And if you talk of the Ivy Leagues of the UK, there's the University of Oxford and the Cambridge

01:55 Group, forging ties with Philippine institutions. We've got University of Oxford. We've got Pearson

02:01 Education. These are all some of the UK's leading education providers that are deeply engaged now

02:08 in the Philippines, working to drive examinations, English language quality, teaching, and wider

02:16 education. The two nations are connected not only by trade ties, but by people to people diplomacy.

02:22 The British companies that are here always say just how impressed they are

02:27 with the warmth of the welcome, the generosity.

02:29 This is your first visit to the Philippines. Will you come back?

02:33 I absolutely will do, both in a work capacity and also in a personal capacity. This is a beautiful

02:38 country. Lois Calderon, CNN Philippines.

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